ESPN sideline reporter Erin Andrews has filed a $10 million lawsuit against the man who videotaped her through a peephole and against the Nashville hotel who failed to protect her privacy, according to the Tennessean.

The paper reports that the lawsuit claims convicted perpetrator Michael Barrett called the Marriott and was told which room Andrews would be staying in and then rented the room next to her. She was in Nashville in 2008 to cover a Vanderbilt University football game and the video quickly became viral on the Internet.

Erin Andrews says the peephole incident was an invasion of privacy, negligent and caused emotional distress and for that she’s seeking $6 million from the West End Marriott Hotel and $4 million from Barrett.

Barrett was sentenced to two years in prison in 2010 for taping Erin Andrews.

Oprah Winfrey promotes OWN to television critics earlier this year in Pasadena, Calif.

Oprah Winfrey, of course, isn’t the first person that comes to mind when talking about sports.

But Oprah became a sports talker recently when the taping of her final Oprah episodes forced the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat to reschedule Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

So in keeping with the sports and Oprah ties, we decided to reflect on the top sports moment as the “Queen” officially steps down from her reign over daytime television this week.

1. Laveranues Coles reveals sexual abuse – Coles first revealed his haunting, childhood secret in the New York Times, but decided to take another brave step in sharing his experience with millions of Oprah viewers.

The folks at guyism.com compiled a list of the top 7 memorable sports moments on Oprah and Florida native Erin Andrews ranked No. 1 for discussing her peephole incident (ssshh..don’t tell ESPN host Michelle Beadle that). Other top moments, included Olympian Greg Louganis discussing his sexuality, Serena Williams giving Oprah a pedicure and who could forget Marion Jones’ “interesting” interview with Oprah after she was released from prison for lying to federal prosecutors about taking performance enhancing drugs.

Skylar Diggins of Notre Dame brings the ball upcourt against Texas A&M during the 2011 NCAA Women's Final Four championship (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

I get it. Skylar Diggins is beautiful.

What I don’t understand is why after Skylar Diggins and her Notre Dame basketball teammates achieved success in reaching the 2011 NCAA women’s basketball finals, she was rewarded with rumors of nude photos.

Yep, Skylar Diggins is officially popular folks. Skylar Diggins photos, Skylar Diggins nude photos is now a popular google search item when you type in her name.

She has entered the Erin Andrews level of uncomfortable popularity. And that’s a scary thing considering Skylar Diggins is just 20-years-old.

Skylar Diggins denied the photos were her via her twitter account account last week saying, “IDK who is going around trying to deame my character, but its sad. The people that know me and love me know that I would never handle myself in such a careless and classless manner.”

She added, “I can truly say I am hurt by this…I dnt believe how someone could attempt to ruin my name but being untrue. I am stronger than this though,” she said. “I will not run away and hide. There is no reason to…..goodnight and I will be back to continue my thoughts and tweet regularly tomorrow…”

Her response was both heartfelt and heartbreaking because this trend of women achieving success only to be victimized by their looks is shameful.

Like Erin Andrews, Skylar Diggins did nothing to deserve this kind of embarrassing attention from some faceless cowards.

It’s sad that women in sports achieve success and are often rewarded with demeaning behavior. For example, just look at this headline about Cheyenne Woods.

Tiger Woods niece, Cheyenne Woods, wins the ACC women’s golf tournament by 7 shots and the focus is if she is “hotter” than Skylar Diggins.

As promised, ESPN made its list of approved endorsement deals for employees public on its website. Of the 54 names, X game analyst and former athlete Chris Burandt led the way with 20 endorsement deals.

ESPN changed its policy on employee endorsements after Erin Andrews’ controversial deal with Reebok. Erin Andrews will keep her endorsement with Reebok until Jan 1, 2012, but will have to terminate her relationship with the shoe company following that date.

“We are more committed than ever to our mission of serving sports fans and we feel the steps we are taking today will help us better meet that goal,” ESPN Executive Vice President Norby Williamson said.

ESPN came under media scrutiny after one of its popular sideline reporters Erin Andrews accepted an endorsement deal with Reebok ZigTech.

Erin Andrews wasn’t the first or the only ESPN talents to have a shoe endorsement, but the deal triggered executives to take another look at its endorsement policy. ESPN Executive Vice President Norby Williamson recently announced changes to the company’s policies regarding endorsements which would result in all talent losing their shoe endorsement deals. Certain exceptions extend to former players, coaches and administrators who serve as analysts for the company.

Erin Andrews will have to give up her contract starting Jan. 1 2012 and according to the Oregonian’s website, this new policy impacts less than 10 of the network’s on-air personalities. Analysts like Kirk Herbstreit and Lee Corso would be allowed to keep their deals under the current policy.

In an attempt for transparency, ESPN will list all approved endorsement deals of its commentators on espn.com Monday.

“We are more committed than ever to our mission of serving sports fans and we feel the steps we are taking today will help us better meet that goal,” Williamson said.

A necessary move by ESPN here.

Erin Andrews was the first female hired as a spokesman for the Reebok ZigTech line. Who should her replacement be?

Sportscaster Erin Andrews attends the Alice + Olivia Fall 2011 presentation during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at The Plaza Hotel on February 14, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by John W. Ferguson/Getty Images)

Erin Andrews will juggle her entertainment interests again this weekend with coverage of the 83rd Annual Academy Awards for ESPN’s sister station ABC.

According to USA Today, Erin Andrews will work with former ESPN anchor Robin Roberts on Good Morning America to produce a few taped segments surrounding the Oscars.

Erin Andrews showed her affinity for the arts last year when she competed on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars. She and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy finished in third place.

Erin Andrews broke barriers as the first female to endorse the Reebok ZigTech line of shoes and apparel. But she isn’t the first sportscaster to sign a shoe deal.

ESPN’s “College GameDay” hosts Lee Corso, Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit all have deals with Nike that involves speaking engagements for shoes and apparel, reports New York Times reporter Richard Sandomir. Fowler, however, plans to end his association with Nike in light of perception problems.

“We don’t do very much and they’re unbelievable to us,” Lee Corso told the New York Times. “We wear their product, which is part of it.” But he said they were not obligated to tell viewers about the Nike connection. “I might have Nike shoes on, but it’s got nothing to do with ‘College GameDay.’ ”

The article was very well done and raised some very interesting questions. Namely, should on-air talent engage in product endorsement?

Journalists should be objective and unbiased. But journalists also represent a voice.

If Erin Andrews had an acne problem and used Pro Active as a remedy, then endorsed the product, that shouldn’t be a problem. She stood behind a product she believed in that is effective in the use of her work but doesn’t compromise the integrity of how she is able to perform her job.

If Pro Active sponsored a bowl game or had contracts with college teams, then there would be a clear conflict of interest in signing a contract with a company that represents potential sources.

“It’s not just what’s said or written but what stories are covered and the frame for the story,” said Bob Steele to the Times. Steele is the Director of the Prindle Institute at DePauw University . “It’s the questions that are asked and not asked in an interview, and who gets interviewed.”

ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Florida State at Memorial Stadium in Clemson S.C. Andrews plans to be in a Los Angeles courtroom when a man accused of secretly filming her nude pleads guilty to stalking. A hearing is set on Tuesday afternoon Dec. 15, 2009, for Illinois insurance executive Michael David Barrett to enter the plea. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

There’s always an extra sideline show anytime ESPN sideline personality Erin Andrews is covering a game. Her attractiveness was apparently too much to handle for one young Kansas University men’s basketball fan last week.

Check out this YouTube video footage during the Jan. 29 broadcast of the Kansas-Kansas State men’s basketball game.

Better to see the proverbial Erin Andrews gawking on the court rather than off.

ESPN reporter Erin Andrews interviews Oregon Ducks linebacker Casey Matthews during a media day event prior to 2011 BCS National Championship game against the Auburn Tigers to be played on January 10, 2011. Mandatory Credit: Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE

GQ Magazine caught up with ESPN’s arguably most popular sideline personality Erin Andrews for a Q&A to preview the BCS National Championship game between Auburn and Oregon.

Erin Andrews, a graduate of the University of Florida, chopped it up with the magazine on a variety of topics but, of course, addressed the internet pictures that haunted her life. That’s when Erin “PageViews” Andrews showed a side I hadn’t seen out of her yet and name checked USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan.

From the article:

GQ: The Internet has had an unquestionable impact on your career, both positively and invasively. Do you think the pros have outweighed the cons, because it certainly seems like it has been both friend and foe to you?

EA: If you want to be very honest, the Internet is what really hurt me mentally. A man putting my body all over the Internet, and people accessing it? It really has caused me great grief and embarrassment and it’s something I’m going to have to deal with for the rest of my life. At the same time, you are right. Everything blew up like four, five years ago. They nicknamed me Erin Pageviews. It took me to a level I never anticipated.

GQ: What are your thoughts on the ongoing Favre saga? On one hand, it’s the same kind of salacious story that has dogged your career, and yet on the other hand, it’s dealing with a serious issue of sexual harassment.

EA: I look back at what people thought about me when this all came out [my hotel-room incident], and they thought I did it for publicity—that I did it to myself. People like Christine Brennan said that I deserved it. So I would like to reserve judgment.

I have the utmost respect for Christine Brennan, who is a trailblazer for women in sports print journalism. But have no problems with Erin Andrews sticking up for herself here.

Andrews was a victim of stalking when nude photos were taken of her while she was in a hotel room a few years ago. Christin Brennan caught heat for a few tweets she sent on the subject matter; “Women sports journalists need to be smart and not play to the frat house. There are tons of nuts out there. Erin Andrews incident is bad, but to add perspective: there are 100s of women sports journalists who have never had this happen to them.

In fairness, there are women in the sports journalism industry who have used their sexuality over talent to get ahead thus staining the image for everyone. However, Erin Andrews never struck me as someone who belonged in that category.

Sure, Erin Andrews is considered attractive and I can’t imagine that hurts her being that she works in an image industry like television. But she’s not walking around baring a midriff and flaunting cleavage in locker rooms and sidelines. And, correct me if I’m wrong, but she isn’t doing nude spreads for Playboy either.

In no way, shape or form, did Erin Andrews deserve what happened to her. I’m glad to see her bounce back on her feet and do well.

ESPN often finds itself in uncharted celebrity journalism territory. The company’s more visible talent is rife with former athletes and coaches who can provide unique perspective and insight.

But things get a little sticky when the news providers become the news makers — enter the alleged Jon Gruden interview for the University of Miami football position.

Multiple reports have surfaced that Gruden, a Monday Night Football analyst for ESPN, is scheduled to meet with the Miami athletic director sometime this week, most likely Wednesday, Dec. 1.

Obviously, this is awkward for Gruden because you never want to tell your current girlfriend that you’re entertaining the idea of leaving her. Hence, Gruden’s cryptic non-denial denial tweet Monday addressing the coaching rumors.

But there is another level of awkwardness for the ESPN reporters who have to cover their co-worker’s potential new job. Joe Schad, a former Orlando Sentinel employee, broke the news today that a “source close to the search said Tuesday night that Miami expects to speak with Gruden, who other Miami sources have indicated is still the Hurricanes’ top choice.”

Here’s the pink elephant in the room that isn’t being addressed. ESPN surely doesn’t want to get beat on its own story, but how do you balance the line when employees are being put in the position to cover co-workers?

There’s no doubt Jon Gruden’s potential departure for the University of Miami job is headline sports news. But it’s debatable if ESPN should be covering this or if the company should back off as it has in the past when it comes to employees.

On one hand, if ESPN consistently covers its employees (when headline news occurs) then it shows transparency. On the other hand, some viewers and readers may question if there is an agenda involved.

Obviously, working for ESPN allows Gruden some level of control over the information being released. It wouldn’t be ridiculous to assume that he or someone in his camp would feed the company information. Or ESPN could possibly even demand they get the information first since they are the cutting Gruden’s current paycheck.

It’s an odd situation that most news organizations don’t have to face because most don’t employ the same people they once covered.

Of course, this is what makes ESPN unique for the good and for the odd.